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Monster Ball Man
Monster Ball Man (怪球マン) is a gag work by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro, serialized from 1977 through 1978 in Dokkan V. Overview A young man named Kyuta was born between a most fortunate union of a professional baseball player and a softball player. Normally, such a child would be thought to be the best sports player around. Unfortunately, it is the entire opposite case for him and he often strikes out or has other bad luck happen due to his clumsiness. After a strange ball that falls from the sky grants Kyuta the ability to play amazing baseball, it would seem like such a problem is solved. However, it's more than just an ordinary baseball, and actually a mysterious alien with other secrets... Characters Kyuta (球太) An unlucky player on his neighborhood baseball team. After encountering a "shooting star" that turns out to be the Monster Ball, he finds that he's able to throw it at ease and that the ball seems to even be able to fly on its own. He is originally shown to be bald, with bushy eyebrows and a harsher-looking face in the first two chapters. This goes away quickly as his design is altered to instead look more like a thick-eyebrowed Bakabon type of boy with freckles. In the last round, Kyuta is unable to use Ball or Bat due to them wearing out, and has to find a strategy to play one more successful game. After their business is completed, the two depart from Earth and he bids them farewell. Monster Ball Man (or just "Ball" for short) An alien in the shape of a baseball. He has great performance, but also needs to refuel by eating and can bite a person if he's agitated enough. His appetite is great enough to even eat household objects, but the more he eats will result in him defecating bigger piles of feces and leaving Kyuta to be blamed. Ball is also revealed to be capable of full speech as well, allowing him to communicate easily with Kyuta but also able to get into arguments if he feels his needs aren't being met. For instance, he will get angry if he can't have a specific food (like cake) and will devour many objects in revenge until given what he wants, but can be shown to release some objects he consumed, if in misshapen condition. When on an eating spree, Ball can grow to great sizes until he's finished digesting and returns to his usual tiny baseball self. But in other cases, if he keeps eating, he'll shapeshift and become more dangerous. Kyuta's Parents His father was a pro baseball player, and his mother the pro softball player. This can still be seen in their expert catching and throwing abilities. Kyuta aims to keep Ball a secret from them, but runs into awkwardness over its appetite and digestion capabilities. Eventually, the secret of Ball is uncovered when Kyuta's mother sees all the food having to be delivered to their house to satisfy him. Bat-Man Ball's friend from outer space, who shows up later on in the form of a seemingly normal baseball bat but then quickly reveals himself to Ball and Kyuta. When he and Ball are both used in a sport, their combined power is undeniably strong. Serialization *Dokkan V: April 1977-May 1978 Reprints *Shogakukan: Digitized for the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" DVD-ROM set. A print-on-demand version is available though ComicPark. *eBookJapan: 1 volume digital edition External Links Category:Manga Category:1970s works Category:Gag works Category:Works serialized in Dokkan V